Managing Mischief
by Lady Jet Black
Summary: The saying "Opposites; attract" has never been more wrong... But then again... who's to say? [Marauders' Era] JamesLily SiriusOC
1. Prologue: The Prig

**Author's Note: **Hello to all! This is the first story I've ever posted (though not the first I've written) so I do hope you enjoy it! Constructive criticism and reviews would be utterly lovely; however, I would appreciate it if readers would please refrain from posting any flames. Pray, spare my heart.

**Summary: **The saying "Opposites attract" has never been more wrong... But then again... who's to say? Noella Nyx Blairheart wants nothing more than to make trouble for the master troublemakers themselves: The Marauders. But they won't stand for it. Sirius then takes it upon himself to be more of an annoyance than he assumes she can handle. _She_ won't stand for that.

**Rating: **T for mild language and suggestive humor.

**Disclaimer: **I hold no claim to the _Harry Potter_ series. All of it belongs to the genius, the Lady Rowling. This storyline and several characters, however, I am proud to say are mine.

On to the story!

* * *

Diagon Alley was teeming with life as per usual. Colorful window displays hit the eyes from every direction and equally colorful people quickly scurried from shop to shop, stopping every so often to peer at the colorful window displays or examine the products lain out for them to look at. Witches and wizards of all shapes and sizes were checking out merchandise of all sizes and shapes and were hurrying this way and that. All in all, it was busy just as it always was. A pair of old witches were stooped over the array of different cauldrons just outside the Cauldron Shop, muttering complaints about how ridiculous prices were these days for good-quality copper cauldrons (15 to 30 Galleons depending on the size). A gaggle of small children were crowding around Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, each vying for the attention of the nice Mr. Florean Fortescue to yell to him their favorite flavors. Little boys were pressing their faces against the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies, chatting to each other about which professional Quidditch players were riding which brooms, while several business-type wizards and witches were walking briskly into and out of the Daily Prophet building. And in the hustle and bustle of it all… stood four boys: James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. 

One boy with extremely messy, jet-black hair, hazel eyes gleaming from behind his spectacles, wore a cheeky smirk that would have any stern adult wondering, "What in God's name kind of havoc is this young man about to wreak?" This was James Potter. He turned his head to the side slightly to address his companions with a mock sigh.

"Another year, another year's worth of teachers and trouble and troublesome teachers."

An overly loud, squeaky laugh rang out from the shortest of the group, Peter Pettigrew, causing several shoppers to turn and look at the group of boys with disapproval. "Ha ha… Good one, James!"

The other two looked at each other, rolled their eyes and shook their heads, while James let out a little chuckle and grinned.

"If you're quite out of half-witted jokes, James," said one boy, one Sirius Black, smirking, broad-shouldered and quite good-looking, as he wrapped an arm around the shoulders of his friend in question. "I believe we have a bit of school shopping to do."

"My, my, Sirius, I do believe that this is the first time you've ever put school so high up on your list of priorities," said the brown-haired boy, Remus Lupin, with a pleasant smile.

"Ha, that's a good one, too, Remus!" offered Peter.

"Peter… shut up," said Sirius, causing the smaller, but chubbier, mousy-looking boy to shrink a little as if chastised. "We can't all be ickle little prefects like you, Remus, but really, I'd rather this not take all day."

It was James, this time, who rolled his eyes. "What shall we go look for first, then, Sirius, since you're so keen on shopping?"

As Sirius made a face at James, Remus examined the list he had brought with him. "Well, the only things we need, really, are books and perhaps maybe some supplies from the Apothecary."

"To Flourish and Blotts, then!"

-------

Remus had just picked up a copy of _Hairy Snout, Human Heart_ when he heard giggling enter the shop. He looked over toward the entrance to see a small group of girls in his year coming in through the door. He glanced down the aisle at his friends, who were each leafing through copies of _Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts_, pointing out certain pages in turn and snickering every so often. Sirius looked up absentmindedly and caught Remus' eye. Remus pointed at the girls and Sirius grinned and nudged James.

"What? Found a hex we haven't tried yet?"

"Not exactly. It looks like we don't have to go searching for the victim of your fancy today," Sirius said as Remus shelved the book he was flipping through and came over to them.

"What are you going on about?" asked James, though he was sure he already knew the answer.

"Don't be thick, James, you know damn well what I'm ta-" Sirius cut himself off when he saw the dazed look in his friend's eyes. "James?" Remus, Sirius, and Peter each followed the trail of his vision to the group of girls making their way toward the aisle in which the four of them were located.

"So he _does_ know what you're talking about," Remus said with a smile as Peter sniggered a little.

"Hey, Evans!" called James suddenly, ruffling his hair up quickly with one hand as he thrust the book he was holding into Peter's chest with the other, causing the latter to wince. A girl with thick, dark red hair and pretty, green, almond-shaped eyes turned around, her laughter fading immediately as soon as she saw who it was that had called her.

"Oh, it's only you, Potter," she said dryly, looking back at the books on the shelves, pretending to be interested in the titles. James took a few steps closer.

"What, you don't want to ask how nice my summer holiday was?" He grinned.

"No, I'd rather save my breath and the _un_-pleasantries for someone more worth my time." The girls behind her twittered audibly.

"So are you saying you'd rather skip right to the date, then?" James asked, rather cheekily. The girls giggled even more. Remus sighed and returned to browsing the shelf next to him as Sirius and Peter exchanged amused looks.

"Lily," they could hear one of the girls whisper as she looked furtively at James, blushing. "Why don't you say yes this time? It couldn't hurt."

Lily gave an incredulous, reproachful look to her friend before turning back to James with a raised brow. "Sorry, Marilee, I know how much you pity pathetic fools, but I don't date them –especially those who are so egotistically pig-like." With that, she turned to make her way toward some shelves on the opposite end of the shop as her companions shuffled after her. Except one.

James had been too busy staring after Lily to notice the girl before him with her hands on her hips. She had long, thick, curly dark hair and attractive, deep blue eyes that sparkled with a complacent rigidity. She cleared her throat to bring James' attention upon herself. He turned to her with a slightly confused look as he had just snapped out of his reverie. His friends turned to her as well, each with different expressions on their faces. Remus looked pleasantly surprised and Peter looked positively intimidated as he kept wringing his hands over and over. Sirius looked rather bored as his dark hair fell across his forehead and a fair bit of his eyes quite fantastically, while he looked at the girl before them with an air of indifference.

"Something bothering you, Blairheart?" he asked flatly. She strode over to them with curves and a sway in her hips, both of which, Sirius noted, had not been there last year and stopped in front of the four, crossing her arms.

"Nothing at all, Black, except your existence as usual and," here, she narrowed her eyes a little as she glanced at James before turning to face Sirius again, "your friend here. Tell him to stop messing with _my_ friend. She's obviously not interested."

"Tell him yourself. He's standing right next to you," Sirius said with a glare, gesturing toward James, who was frowning.

She looked at him with an appraising look then turned to address all of them, pointing at each of them in turn. "See here, the lot of you, no toying with my friends, any of them, _especially_ Lily. None of us need any extra stress this year. There's enough of that already with our N.E.W.T. level classes." She looked as if she was going to end it there and walk away to join the other girls. No such luck. "I won't have any of your inane misconduct back at school either. I may not have done much to end your immature behavior last year, but this year I won't take any nonsense from you."

The boys were irresistibly reminded of Professor McGonagall. Sirius smirked.

"Firstly, James has a right to fancy any girl he pleases, regardless of any relationship to you they might have. Secondly, classes are going to be a breeze for anyone with a wand and even half a brain. Though, I might be a bit worried for you." The girl rolled her eyes at this and muttered something that sounded a lot like "cocky git". "Thirdly," Sirius continued, not intimidated, "you didn't catch us last year and you won't be able to this year. If I were you, I'd give up."

She glared and gave a mock laugh. "I always new Dumbledore had it wrong in making Remus a prefect." She looked at him apologetically. "Remus, I'm sorry, you are a perfectly fine human being, but your friends here… they're bringing you down."

"Excuse me," Remus interjected heatedly as the others glared at her. "But my friends are exactly that, my friends and they're a right lot better than you at the moment. My being a prefect has nothing to do with why we don't get caught… It's all skill."

Silent for a moment, she did nothing but stare at him, regarding him as if he were a child who had just done something horribly, horrible wrong. "It doesn't matter," she began quietly. "I don't know exactly what you were up to last year, but if it continues, I swear, I won't rest until I find out. And your 'skill' will be made into a farce once I catch you in the act." She resumed smirking once again. "As I said, it doesn't matter. I'm going to be extra-vigilant and steadfast in my duties this year, so I advise you to stay out of trouble lest you want trouble of your own from me." After her firmly-delivered warning, she turned on her heel with one last stern look at them and strode away, hips swaying ever-so-slightly, Sirius couldn't help but note again, a brow raised and an iota of confusion that went unnoticed by his friends passed over his handsome features for a brief second.

The four of them were silent for a bit before they turned to each other and subsequently burst out into laughter.

"Stay out of trouble?" James scoffed, completely unfazed. "Trouble of our own? If she believes in the slightest that she frightens us, she's gone mental."

"Right…Mental… D'you think she was right though? About Dumbledore being wrong in picking me?" Remus asked, looking at his prefect badge contemplatively. He had pulled it out of his bag as soon as the girl had left.

"Of course not," Sirius said, heartily clapping him on the back. "You were brilliant just then and Dumbledore's never wrong. Don't listen to her, Remus. You know she's had it in for us ever since the moment we set foot on school grounds. She's nothing but a self-righteous, arrogant, little prig."

"Y-Yeah," agreed Peter with feeble confidence, looking in the direction the girl had left as if making sure there was no chance of her coming back. "A real prude, that Noella Blairheart."


	2. Prefect, Prefect, Fool

**Author's Note: **Whew, after a very long and very excruciating first semester, I am back from my "hiatus", I suppose you could call it, with a new chapter! I do hope this was worth the wait.

(All standard disclaimers apply.)

Enjoy, loves!

* * *

Noella Nyx Blairheart was not surprised when she received her letter of acceptance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In fact, she was expecting it. Everyone else in her family had gotten one, so why shouldn't she? She was, however, excited and had spent the first few weeks of her eleventh summer waiting in anticipation by the sitting room window, keeping an alert eye out for owls. When the owl carrying her Hogwarts letter finally arrived, she quickly took it from the bird, patting it gratefully, opened it, read it thrice for good measure, then screamed. Her parents, thoroughly frightened by the sound of what they thought was their only daughter in distress, came running down the grand staircase of Wishley Manor at once, too worried to remember the ease of Apparition. When they met her in the parlour, they found an eleven-year-old Noella grinning back at them, deep blue eyes sparkling, flourishing her letter for them to see.

Growing up as the only sister to three older wizarding brothers, Noella was deprived of a fair bit of femininity and inherited, much to the displeasure of her mother, several of their more masculine mannerisms, such as swearing, teasing, and generally speaking her mind more than others would have liked. Her two eldest brothers, Abraxas and Cornelius, each had commendable careers at Hogwarts that she felt she had to live up to and she promised herself that she would. If not, she vowed to outshine them. That would show them and put a sock in all their belittling, chauvinistic comments. Her third brother, Theodore, to whom she was closest in age and closest in relationship, had graduated Hogwarts the year before with marks only slightly above average but nowhere near the excellence of the two that came before him. However, he was Quidditch Captain and because of this, Quidditch was yet another thing at which Noella wished to excel.

Growing up as the only daughter to two Ministry of Magic officials, Noella grew up in a strict, structured environment made up of rules and regulations that she followed with the utmost care, eager to please her parents. Her mother, Sophia, was Department head of the Werewolf Support Services and made sure that Noella was home before dark every evening, tucked into bed with all the windows locked tightly every night, and with sufficient adult supervision every day, hoping that she would never have to provide any sort of Support Services for her beloved girl. Her father, Augustus, was a very stern and influential Auror and set up a very long and very strict set of rules by which every member of the household was expected to obey, resulting in a very inflexibly driven and obedient Noella. From her mother, she gained her responsibility, timeliness, and perfectionist mentality, not to mention her thick, curly, dark hair, long, pointed nose, and heart-shaped face. From her father, she inherited her intelligence, rigidity, steadfastness (some called it bull-headed stubbornness), and her deep blue eyes. From both, she received a very great affinity for the rules.

It was this affinity for the rules that explained why she was sitting here, in the prefects' compartment on the Hogwarts Express, early as usual, next to her best friend Lily Evans. A few of the other prefects were present as well, including her fellow Ravenclaw, Blake Tuffington, and, she noted with much displeasure, Slytherin student, Severus Snape. While she could say some nice things about the former, she completely detested the latter. Sure, he was brilliant and shared her love of books (albeit, he fancied tomes mostly regarding the Dark Arts as demonstrated by the book he was reading this moment, _Blacke Magick Moste Divine_), but he was, for lack of better words, a foul-mouthed, greasy-haired, dirty git and she would never forgive him for describing Lily with… that word.

Suppressing her rage toward Snape, she turned to Lily and started paying attention to her continual rants about James Potter.

"I mean, really! The nerve of him… asking me out after I explicitly told him he wasn't worth my time. He-"

Noella cut Lily off. "Actually, Lily, you did not _explicitly_ tell him he wasn't worth your time. You implied that there were others who were _more _worth your time than he was," she said, raising a brow amusedly at her friend.

"Sometimes, I really hate how observant you are," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "Besides, whether I told him implicitly or explicitly shouldn't matter. What should matter is that after I've rejected him all those times, he should have gotten the message that I won't be accepting any time soon."

"I think a part of you actually likes Potter's attention. I think a part of you doesn't want him to stop fawning over you." Noella grinned at the way Lily's cheeks began to tint themselves a lovely shade of pink.

"One, I do not, nor will I ever, like Potter's attention and I do want him to stop asking me out. Two… he does not… _fawn_ over me," Lily finished lamely.

"One, I very much think you do. And two, yes, he does. I bet you five Sickles he comes to see you on the train."

Lily looked into her friends determined, navy blue eyes with her own apprehensive, green ones. _Maybe_, she thought, _he does fawn over me a tad…_ _But there is no way I'm giving her the satisfaction._ Hiding her reluctance behind a defiant smirk, she nodded. "You're on."

Noella smirked. "Five more Sickles says he comes barging in here within the first half hour of the train ride."

Lily could no longer hide her reluctance. Potter was annoying that way. She was sure that, as soon as the train started moving, his friend Remus Lupin would open the compartment door accompanied by none other than that no-good, arrogant, self-loving prat. However, she wasn't sure if that incident would be worse than having to endure Noella's smug smirk the entire trip to Hogwarts. So, with no enthusiasm whatsoever, she said, "Sure."

They continued to chat animatedly about Potter, which annoyed Lily, and his troublemaking companions, specifically Sirius Black, which annoyed Noella. The entire conversation, though the pair did not notice, annoyed Snape very much.

Outside the Hogwarts Express on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, the four objects of annoyance were dragging their trunks over toward one car. Notably, Peter Pettigrew was struggling a bit to pull his along. James, at the head of the group, entered the car and the others followed suit. After finding an empty compartment and putting their baggage up on the racks, they settled in.

"Remus, don't you have to be in the prefects' compartment?" Peter chirped timidly. Remus looked at him and smiled.

"I don't have to be there until the train starts moving."

"All right then, lads," started James excitedly, a devilish glint in his eyes, "I've got news for you." The other three turned to him expectantly and he smirked at them. "But… since Remus has to go so soon, it had better wait."

Remus rolled his eyes and looked out the window, while Sirius crossed his arms, annoyed. Peter sat on the edge of his seat and stared at James imploringly. "Are-Are you sure you can't tells us now?" he asked. "Remus said he doesn't have to be there for another-"

"No, I suppose it can wait." James grinned.

Sirius scowled. "You know, if you're going to go and play at being dramatic, you could have done so _after_ Remus came back from his ickle prefects' meeting." Remus shot him a glare.

"I'm not playing at being dramatic–" Sirius snorted. "–I just like messing with you guys."

"So there's no news, then?" Peter looked down, obviously disappointed.

"Oh, no, there is definitely news."

The whistle sounded and they could hear late students piling onto the train, looking for empty compartments. Several students leaned out the window to say good-bye to their parents as the train came to life and started to move down the tracks, slowly at first but gathering speed.

"There's news, but it'll have to wait. Remus has to leave," James said with a smirk.

Remus rolled his eyes yet again, got up, and made his way up the train.

It was Sirius' turn to smirk as he looked at James. "You know… You did this exact same thing last year."

"What's your point?" he asked, looking at Peter, who shrugged.

"As if you don't know what my point is."

"Sirius, you're my best mate, but if you don't spit out your point this second, I'm going to–" Sirius cut him off, regarding James' drawn wand with amusement.

"Alright. Alright. I was just surprised you haven't run off to follow Moony to go continue your romantic pursuits."

It took about a second for Sirius' statement to register in James' head before his eyes widened briefly and he shot up out of the compartment and into the corridor after Remus.

"Remus! Wait!" James called, catching up to his friend and panting. Remus looked at him, slightly alarmed.

"What happened? Is everything alright?"

James looked at Remus for a second, confused, before he shook his head and smiled. "No, nothing happened. I just… I just thought you might want some company."

Remus raised a brow suspiciously. "You're not a prefect. You're not allowed in our compartment. I thought I told you that last year."

"What? Now you're ditching me for your priggish prefect buddies?" James grasped his heart in mock-hurt.

"No, that's not it. I just–"

"You just don't want me around because you're embarrassed that your fellow prefects might think I'm no good, right?"

"James, you know that's not–"

"No, it's alright. I understand." With that, James turned around and made to leave.

"James," Remus said flatly, causing James to turn around with an innocent look on his face.

"Yes?"

"Come on."

Back in the prefect's compartment, Head Boy Wallace Hewitt and Head Girl Priscilla Owens were counting out the people present.

"Wallace," said Priscilla, brow furrowed. "We're missing one."

"Which one?" he responded looking at the eight fifth years and seven sixth years before him.

"One of the sixth years. These two are from my house." Priscilla gestured toward Noella and Blake Tuffington. "Those two are the Slytherin prefects," she added, pointing toward Snape and a girl Noella did not know very well.

"Yeah," Wallace responded glancing at each of the indicated students in turn. "I'm assuming you two are Hufflepuffs by the patches on your robes," he said, glancing at a boy and girl sitting near the compartment door. They nodded. "So that leaves… the two from my house. Lily?" Wallace looked at her. "Where's Remus?"

Lily glanced at Noella who rolled her eyes, muttering, "Irresponsible git… I knew they would have a bad influence on him… Leave it to them to keep the school from functioning properly." Lily turned back to Wallace.

"I really have no idea. He might-"

"So sorry I'm late." The compartment door slid open briskly and everyone present turned to face two boys in the doorway. Remus chanced a sheepish smile. James was grinning quite openly.

Noella made a face at them while Lily gaped and muttered an "Ugh…" as she started digging around in the pockets of her robes. She extracted a satchel full of coins as Noella turned to look at her before smirking, remembering their bet. Grudgingly, Lily held out her hand, palm full of silver. Her friend grinned and took it, pocketing it triumphantly and leaning back into her seat.

James looked at the exchange, a little confused, as Remus edged into the compartment and sat down in an empty space next to Lily, who was trying with tremendous effort to not look at either of them.

"Alright, now that we're all here–" Wallace started before Priscilla cut him off by clearing her throat. He looked at her with a questioning expression. She pointed at James.

"Oh, right. Prefects only," Wallace said, addressing James, who was shooting Lily a winning smile. "Excuse me." He continued when James stayed rooted to the spot, apparently deaf to his words.

"Potter… If you're so keen on acting a fool, you could wait until we reached the school so you would have a larger audience…" drawled Snape, lowering his book to glare at James, who returned it scathingly.

"Snape," James said, taking in his greasy-haired, hook-nosed appearance with obvious dislike. Remus shot him a warning look. He ignored it. "Why do they throw out non-prefects like me and keep ickle wankers like you around?" Snape's glare intensified. Lily made a show of rolling her eyes.

"Alright, that's quite enough," Priscilla intoned, frustrated. James, knowing he was being shooed away, ceased glaring at Snape and gave another little grin to Lily.

"See you at the feast, Evans." He nodded once to her, once to Remus, and left.

Lily let out a little "Hmph!" as Noella merely rolled her eyes. The Head Boy and Girl sighed and looked at each other before resuming their orientation speeches.

"How'd it go?" Peter asked tentatively when James slid back into his seat across from him and Sirius. He looked out the window.

"They didn't let me stay long enough to talk to her," he muttered.

"Ha! Told you, Peter, just like last year. Hand it over." Sirius held out his hand while Peter reluctantly withdrew several coins from his pocket and gave them to the former.

James made a face. "Why is everyone making bets around me?!" he asked, exasperated.

"It's because we love you," Sirius replied sarcastically, grinning as he counted out his change.

"Yeah, enough to send me out to the prefects' compartment and embarrass myself."

"Hey, mate, I didn't make you go out there. You went of your own accord." James glared at Sirius, who shrugged. Peter nodded, agreeing with the latter boy.

"Whatever." He crossed his arms and leaned back into the seat when, after a few silent seconds, he said, "I saw Snivellus."

Sirius stiffened. "Yeah?"

"Yeah… Bloody little wanker, he is."

"You think a summer would've changed that?" Sirius snorted. "That prat just has a splintered broomstick up his arse."

Peter let out a snicker while James smiled a little. "Oh yeah? And what do you suggest we do about it?"

"I suggest we extract it. Wouldn't be such a git if we did that, would he?"

"Or we could make it worse!" Peter made an attempt at contributing to the humor. Sirius shook his head.

"Peter, my friend. If you're going to go along with a joke, do try to _go along_ with it."

"Sorry…" He looked down at his hands, embarrassed. James laughed.

"At least he's trying, Sirius, which is quite a big step up from last year, if you ask me!"

Much of the train ride was spent in this manner: James and Sirius joking with each other while Peter tried (and usually failed) to put in his say. It was all good fun and good laughs until Remus stepped into their compartment and slumped into the seat next to James. His friends took in his worn-out appearance with a level of concern that was borderline playful.

"Ah, Moony, how was that lovely meeting of yours?" Sirius smirked and raised a brow. Remus looked at him flatly.

"Just as you said… lovely. Utterly lovely."

"What did they make you do?"

"Well," Remus began, running a hand over his face, "after an unnecessary and excruciatingly long set of introductions from both the Head Boy _and_ the Head Girl, they gave us our assignments for the year, rounds schedules and whatnot. Then we had to patrol the train corridors in pairs according to our House, and let me tell you, there are some very cheeky first years this term. I had to–"

"Pairs according to House?" James interrupted Remus with an expectant smile. His companions glanced at each other knowingly.

"Yes, James," Remus answered slowly.

"So you were with–"

It was Sirius' turn to interrupt. "Lily, yes, James, yes. For a man of your intellect, I find that things have to be spelled out for you quite often."

"In regards to Lily, that is," Remus offered.

"Please, don't start with that again. Did you talk to her at all?"

"Well, I had to, didn't I? She and I were partners, so I couldn't see a way around it."

"Ha ha. Very funny, Remus. I meant… did you talk to her about me? You know… put in a good word for me?" James looked both comically apprehensive and hopeful at the same time.

"Considering several factors such as the fact that we were on prefect duty, the fact that the world doesn't revolve around you, O Mighty James, and of course, the fact that Lily wouldn't give you the time of day even if the world did revolve around you, no, James. I'm sorry to tell you that we did not, in fact, engage in any conversation regarding you."

Sirius and Peter were roaring with laughter at Remus' cheeky answer as James rolled his eyes.

"I know perfectly well that the world doesn't revolve around me," he muttered. _If only I could get __**her**__ to revolve around me…_ James thought with a sigh. "But you, Remus, know perfectly well that you and I are best friends and therefore, you are obligated to assist me in my…" He searched for the right words.

"Dealings with the heart?" Peter offered, smiling a small smile.

Sirius snorted. "Dealings with the heart? Come off it, Peter. We all know that James here is suffering from some sort of mental illness, pursuing a girl who wouldn't even look twice at him if she didn't have to."

"You know, Padfoot, you're starting to wear on my nerves." James was glaring now. Didn't they understand that this particular problem of his was important to him? And it was a problem. There were many other girls at school who did look twice at him, twice plus a great deal more, but they didn't matter. Their attention felt wonderful and did add a considerable amount of weight to his already large ego, but in the back of his mind, with all things taken into consideration, none of them mattered. The only girl who did matter was the one who, as Sirius had correctly pointed out (though James hated to admit it), would not spare him a second look.

"Well, James, you're wearing on mine," Sirius answered defiantly.

"I am, am I?" he responded hotly.

"Yes. Yes, you are. Ever since the end of fourth year, you haven't been the same! You keep going on about Lily as if she's the only thing in this world that matters to you! What about excitement, James? What about your mates?" Sirius gave James a hard, unyielding look.

"Oh, please. You're acting as if I've gone through some huge metamorphosis or something. It's not a big deal!"

"It is a big deal, because in case you haven't noticed, our midnight escapades have been either extremely boring or essentially non-existent because you're always messing with Lily Evans! Imagine what Remus has to go through, not having us there to help him transform!"

"Hey, don't bring me into this!" Remus said indignantly.

"I didn't bring you into it. Tell Sirius who thinks he so–"

"Stop it!"

The three larger boys all turned to face Peter, who hunched himself over as if he had just made a terrible mistake. He squeaked out feebly, "Stop it. We… I… James had news, didn't you?" He looked over toward the bespectacled boy hopefully. He and the rest looked at each other and collectively sighed.

"I… I did." James put an elbow atop an armrest and leaned his cheek against his fist, looking out the window through narrowed eyes.

"Now that Remus is back, you can share it, yeah?" Peter smiled, trying to encourage peace. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Probably another bullocks plan about how to snag Lily."

James bristled at this and turned to glare at him. "Yeah, so what if it is?"

"You see, this is exactly what I was-"

"Don't!" Everyone turned to the smallest boy once again. And again he looked at them sheepishly. "Don't… Don't start again."

Remus put a friendly hand on Peter's shoulder before looking up at the two other boys sternly. "He's right. Both of you are acting like gits."

Sirius and James looked at each other from their respective seats opposite each other. They seemed to be engaged in some sort of mental conversation.

_Alright, Padfoot?_

_Yeah, sure, Prongs_.

They each broke out into a smile and got up to hug each other.

"Aw, how sweet!" a feminine voice cooed, while another giggled softly. All four boys turned to face the compartment door. There, leaning against the door frame, was Noella and with her was Lily. It was an amusing position, the one the Marauders were caught in. Remus was sitting on the edge of his seat, leaning to rest his hand on Peter's shoulder, while James and Sirius stood in the middle of the compartment with their arms in the air, about to encircle the other boy.

"Lily, tell me, did you know Hogwarts' Golden Boys were so _affectionate_ towards each other?" Noella said, her eyes sparkling as they always did when she knew she was getting on someone's nerves.

"No, Noella, I didn't," she replied, still giggling.

Quickly, all four boys snapped their arms to their sides and backed away from each other. Sirius glared.

"What are you trying to get at, Blairheart?"

"Well, Black, with your playboy reputation, I always assumed you were a hormonal female-lover. Clearly, I'll have to tell the girls that you're still hormonal, but your taste seems to have changed."

All four of them were glaring now. James stole a quick glance at Lily and decided to speak up in their defense. "Oh, shut it, Blairheart! Do you enjoy making fools of every living thing you come across?"

"Not at all. They all make fools of themselves. But I do enjoy watching." She grinned.

"Enough of the nonsense. What are you two here for?" Remus asked, crossing his arms and leaning against his seat.

"Wallace wanted us to give this to you," Lily said as she extracted a folded piece of parchment from a pocket in her robe and handed it to him. "He said you should read it with your friends."

"Well, now that you've made your little delivery, you can leave." Sirius narrowed his eyes further to punctuate his dismissal.

"Oh, yes, because this compartment is the property of Black the Big-Headed, right?" This caused Peter to let out a little laugh, making the other three shoot him horrendously ugly looks. He hunched his shoulders and shut his mouth.

Lily rolled her eyes and held her friend's upper arm. "Noella, we're almost to Hogsmeade, we should change into our school robes now."

"That's right, Evans, take your pet prig and go change."

"Sirius!" James hissed, causing said boy to look at him questioningly. Noella rolled her eyes.

"What?"

"Don't mess with E-"

"It's alright, Potter. We were leaving anyway. We have to change if we want to get that annoying Golden Boy odor off of ourselves." With that, Lily dragged Noella, who gave them all one last glare, away.

James groaned as they walked down the corridor. "Padfoot, I don't know why you had to go and do that," he said flatly.

"Do what? Defend myself against the onslaught of Blairheart's endless witticisms?" Sirius looked at his friend incredulously.

"No. Bring Evans into the whole thing."

"Again with Evans?! She's affiliated with that monster of a prat! She brought herself into the whole thing!"

"Sirius, I don't think you're being very mature about this-"

"Mature?! Mature?! James, have you gone completely mental?! Are you-"

"Argh! Stop it!" This time it was Remus who interjected. He looked even more worn out than when he had first entered the compartment after his prefect rounds as he slid a hand over his face. "Both of you need to settle down and stop acting like children."

With one last glare at each other, they sat down with their arms folded and their expressions stony.

The tension was almost palpable as Peter looked between the three bigger boys with shifty eyes. He wrung his hands over and over before squeaking out, "So…" His own voice shocked him due to the thick silence that had settled upon their compartment. He cleared his throat. "So… Er… What's the note say?"


End file.
